


Say You'll See Me Again, Even if it's Just Pretend

by ellacj



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 3x11, But with a happy ending, F/F, True Love's Kiss, broke my own rule in this one but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 07:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellacj/pseuds/ellacj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma's leaving forever, and Regina knows one thing for certain: she's not okay with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say You'll See Me Again, Even if it's Just Pretend

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams".

“I don’t want to go,” Emma says quietly. She wants to run, wants to run so bad, but she can’t because there’s one thing keeping her anchored exactly where she is and that’s Regina clutching her hands just tightly enough to make it real. “I just found my parents; I just found _you_. I can’t just leave.”

Regina smiles tightly. “A year ago you’d be long gone already.”

“I’m not the same person I was a year ago. And neither are you.”

“I know. I’m glad.” Regina chews on her lip. “I don’t want you to go either. But you know we can’t send Henry off by himself.”

Emma sighs. “We’d be the worst parents in the world.”

“At least we didn’t stick him in a magic tree when he was five minutes old and hope for the best.”

“Hey now!” But Emma’s not really angry. She’s come far enough to be able to forgive her parents for sending her away. And she’s forgiven Regina for making them. It’s just a gentle shove to Regina’s shoulder, but it makes both of them stop. It makes both of them tear up just a little bit. “I’m gonna miss your snarky remarks.”

Regina smiles and gives Emma’s hand a gentle squeeze. “And I’m going to miss you getting physical when you can’t think of a comeback.”

“Hey!” Emma’s in the middle of raising her hand to playfully swat her on the shoulder when she freezes. “Shut up,” she grumbles, retracting her hand. “You love me anyway.”

“Of course I do.” Regina leans forward and brushes a ghost of a kiss over Emma’s trembling lips, urging her to smile just one last time. She knows she’s going to miss Emma’s smile more than anything else about her. “We should go. They’re all waiting for us at the town line.”

“Can’t we stay just a little bit longer?”

With a sad smile, Regina stands and pulls Emma up with her. “I need to say goodbye to my son.”

And so they go, leave the cover and privacy of the forest to the edge of town, where everyone is gathered to see them off and even now they have to hide.

“Mom!” Henry shouts, running to wrap his arms around Regina’s waist. It’s such progress from where they were a year ago, and yet something about it feels empty. They’ve come all this way only to be ripped from each other because she just had to save this damned town.

It’s just not fair.

And then Emma is squeezing Henry’s shoulder, and her fingers are brushing over Regina’s hand and she’s meeting her gaze with tears in her green, green eyes.

Henry gets in the car and Emma shares a heartfelt goodbye with her parents, but Regina’s only watching her lips. They’re trembling, and Regina wants nothing more than to surge forward and kiss away Emma’s tears like she’s done almost every night for eight months.

She follows Emma to the driver’s side door. “You won’t remember us when you leave,” she tells her, but Emma already knows. Regina told her in the woods. Luckily, Emma can act (or maybe she’s genuinely upset hearing this the second time), because a silent sob racks her body and fresh tears spill from her eyes. It’s enough to make Regina’s walls break down, and _screw secrets_. She’s going to do something stupid.

She kisses her.

And frankly, it’s probably the best kiss they’ve ever had, standing here on the town line and kissing like they’ll never see each other again – because they won’t. If anyone gasps behind them, neither of them care enough to hear it.

When they finally break apart and Regina turns around, everyone is gaping with open mouths. But something’s different. There’s no cloud of magic racing toward them. The sky behind them is clear and blue and bright, just like any other day in Storybrooke.

_True love’s kiss can break any curse._

“Wha…?” Emma asks, in a daze. She didn’t even notice the ground shaking beneath them because to her, every kiss with Regina shakes the ground. Every kiss shatters the entire world and makes everything okay.

“I have to go,” Regina says abruptly. And then she’s gone in the direction of the woods.

Emma makes to go after her, but she’s interrupted by Snow running to her. “Emma!” she calls. “Wait!”

“I’m sorry, but I have to go after her,” Emma says. “But I’m not going anywhere.” And then she bolts after Regina, not slowing until she sees her sitting in the exact spot where they were just minutes ago. On a rock by the river, watching the water flow. “Hey,” Emma says quietly.

“You’re my true love.”

“Yeah.” Emma sits down on another large rock, elbows resting on her knees. “What’s up with that anyway? I thought Daniel was your true love.”

“My father always said that everyone gets three true loves. The one who’s right for you, the one who’s wrong for you, and the one you just choose.”

“Which one am I?”

Regina smiles. “Emma, I don’t know how you did it, but you somehow managed to be all three.”

And when she really thinks about it, she wouldn’t have it be any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Soo I wrote this with one very specific purpose. This little oneshot got me to exactly 100,000 words in my total author wordcount!! I'd like to thank all of you for motivating me to actually write. You guys are fantastic and I love you more than words can say. I've spent 100,000 of them trying ;D


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